FORT COLLINS - Susan Graham is a firm believer in keeping things simple.

Getting rid of the complications we create for ourselves is the first step in accomplishing our goals, says Graham, a business coach with Keep It Simple Coaching in Fort Collins. She will share her insights as part of the third annual Bixpo Speakers Series set for Sept. 20.

"How I see 'Keep It Simple Coaching' is just that - keeping everything simple," she said. "People put barriers in their path and make it hard to reach their goals. A lot of things get complicated in our lives and if we can make things less complicated, we can accomplish what we want to do in our business or personal lives."

Graham said one step in the right direction is just setting priorities and tackling them in a sequential way. "People tend to react to things, and when you're only in a reactive mode you're never going to be as successful in whatever it is you want to accomplish."

Graham said she's been coaching, mentoring and educating for more than 20 years but only started doing it as a business in 2004.

"I wasn't even aware that coaching was a formal profession until then and didn't realize it was an option," she said. "I learned people were creating a business around something I'd been doing for years, so I said, 'I want to do that.'"

Graham, who has founded three businesses and is about to publish two books, conducts speaking engagements and workshops and works with groups and individuals to help them focus on what they want to do and how to go about achieving that goal.



'Everything is negotiable'

The focus of her Bixpo presentation, scheduled for at 11:15 a.m. at the McKee 4-H Building at The Ranch in Loveland, will be on "Everything Is Negotiable," also the subject of her two upcoming books. Graham said the presentation looks at "what" to negotiate, "when" to negotiate and "with whom" to negotiate in almost any situation.

"Briefly, everybody negotiates every day but they may not realize it," she said. "Our culture has not taught us how to be effective negotiators. Whether it's negotiating the price of a car or a contract for your business, being able to consciously decide what, when and with whom you're going to negotiate could be crucial in those negotiations."

Graham said being a business coach has been very rewarding. "The great part of it is when people realize that coaching is well worth it," she said. "Being a relatively new profession, there's a lot of people you have to explain it to and why it's worth paying for. But most people find it pays them back in spades."

Graham said it's not just her client's business that improves. "Those I have coached tend to report a more general personal happiness along with success in their business goals and objectives," she said.

Graham is past president of the Northern Colorado Coaches Alliance and treasurer of the Northern Colorado Renewable Energy Society. She also teaches whitewater canoeing on the Poudre River and manages the Barr Lake State Park canoe program in the spring and early summer.



Pine, Hoog share lineup

Bixpo is the largest annual business networking event on the Northern Front Range, hosted by the Northern Colorado Business Report. This year's event will be held Sept. 19-20 at The Ranch in the Loveland Fairgrounds complex at Interstate 25 and Crossroads Boulevard. The Speakers Series takes place entirely on Thursday morning. The $49 admission fee includes, in addition to Graham's presentation, others by B. Joseph Pine II, an internationally acclaimed co-author of "The Experience Economy" and the soon-to-be-released "Authenticity," and Mark Hoog, a local author of the Growing Field book series and a United Airlines pilot.

Wednesday morning of Bixpo is devoted to the Front Range Economic Update, a chance for event attendees to hear from three panels of local experts about the state of the Northern Colorado economy. Admission is free; pre-registration is required. More than 200 exhibit booths will be open for business-to-business interaction all day on both days.

Bixpo is presented by the Northern Colorado Business Report, Boulder County Business Report and Wyoming Business Report. The Bixpo presenting sponsor is Bank of Choice. Other sponsors include Banner Health, EKS&H, Water Valley, Kennedy and Coe LLC, Hewlett-Packard Co., Professional Document Management, CBS 5, Sounds of the Rockies, Regent Communications and KUNC 91.5 FM.

For more information, visit bixpo.com.